Body found in Lewiston storage unit believed to be that of Kitty Wardwell

LEWISTON, Maine — Maine State Police may have found the body of a woman missing since 1983 after family members of her former boyfriend discovered a woman’s remains in a storage unit Friday afternoon.

The remains are believed to be those of Kitty I. Wardwell, who disappeared in July of 1983 and was reported missing by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Frank Julian on July 11, 1983, according to the Maine State Police missing persons website.

“Yesterday afternoon, relatives of a Lewiston man were cleaning out his storage locker and found a woman’s body inside a freezer,” McCausland said. “The rental unit was rented by Francis “Frank” Julian, 80, who died Oct. 1.”

“Remains have been found, but we don’t know whose body this is definitively at this time,” said Stephen McCausland, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman. “We have put both families in the loop about the discovery and we have interviewed a number of members of both families, but the final determination will be made by the medical examiner.”

The storage locker where the body was found is at Moore Self-Storage on North Lisbon Street. The freezer containing the body did not have any power running to it.

“I’m not getting into anything about the condition of the body,” said McCausland. “[Julian] had been renting that storage unit since 1992.”

Julian reported Wardwell missing July 11, 1983, telling Salem, N.H., police that he dropped the 29-year-old woman off at the El Rancho Motel in Salem after a fight and then traveled back to Maine without her. Marla Collins, Kitty Wardwell’s sister, reported her missing to the Maine State Police on Nov. 23, 1983.

A subsequent investigation indicated Wardwell was likely a victim of foul play in Maine.

Julian, who grew up in Bangor, died unexpectedly at Central Maine Medical Center on Saturday, Oct. 1.

He played on John Bapst High School’s 1948 unbeaten state championship team, and in the early 1960s, Julian owned and operated Pizza Roma on Main Street in Bangor. He went on to become a novelty salesman.